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30-632: Separating the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Paria , the peninsula is part of the Serranía del Litoral mountain range, in the Venezuelan Coastal Range portion of the northern Andes . Its tip is within sight of the naked eye from the island of Trinidad . Península de Paria National Park protects a section of the peninsula. The Scissor-tailed hummingbird is an endangered hummingbird found only on

60-565: A distinct rainy season. Also subtropical areas like Florida , South and Southeast Texas, and southern Louisiana in the United States have a rainy season. Monsoon regions include the Indian subcontinent , Southeast Asia (including Indonesia and Philippines ), northern sections of Australia , Polynesia , Central America , western and southern Mexico , the Desert Southwest of

90-563: A location in Venezuela is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Gulf of Paria The Gulf of Paria ( / ˈ p æ r i ə / PA-ree-ə ; Spanish : Golfo de Paria ) is a 7,800 km (3,000 sq mi) shallow (180 m at its deepest) semi-enclosed inland sea located between the island of Trinidad and the east coast of Venezuela . It separates the two countries by as little as 15 km at its narrowest and 120 km at its widest points. The tides within

120-773: A more productive and diverse exploitable fish and invertebrate resource base than most of the Eastern Caribbean islands (Agard et al. 1996). The Gulf of Paria is the most important fishing ground for shrimp and finfish in Trinidad. In recent years, Venezuelan pirates have threatened fishermen operating in the region. Major ports located within the Gulf of Paria basin include: [REDACTED] Media related to Gulf of Paria at Wikimedia Commons 10°23′N 62°21′W  /  10.383°N 62.350°W  / 10.383; -62.350 Wet season The wet season (sometimes called

150-498: A shallow sedimentary basin with a maximum depth of 30 m (16 fathoms) and a smooth substratum of fine mud with patches of shell debris and sand (Kenny and Bacon, 1981). These conditions lend themselves to favourable fisheries conditions and the Gulf itself is an important fishery (Heileman and Ramsaroop, 1990). The proximity of the Orinoco Delta to the Gulf suggests that these waters are strongly influenced by fluvial discharges from

180-472: A thick succession of Paleogene deep-water sediments (shales and deep water sandstones) and shallow marine siliciclastic reservoir rocks. The transpression due to the influence of the Caribbean plate created several sub-basins across the Trinidad area; each having distinctive petroleum systems. The hydrocarbon basins in Trinidad are Southern Basin, Columbus Basin, Carupano Basin, Central Range/Darrien Ridge Basin and

210-615: A wet season in the winter months. Similarly, the wet season in the Negev Desert of Israel extends from October through May. At the boundary between the Mediterranean and monsoon climates lies the Sonoran Desert , which receives the two rainy seasons associated with each climate regime. The wet season is known by many different local names throughout the world. For example, in Mexico it

240-407: A wet season month is defined as a month where average precipitation is 60 millimetres (2.4 in) or more. In contrast to areas with savanna climates and monsoon regimes, Mediterranean climates have wet winters and dry summers. Dry and rainy months are characteristic of tropical seasonal forests : in contrast to tropical rainforests , which do not have dry or wet seasons, since their rainfall

270-603: Is equally distributed throughout the year. Some areas with pronounced rainy seasons will see a break in rainfall mid-season, when the Intertropical Convergence Zone or monsoon trough moves to higher latitudes in the middle of the warm season. When the wet season occurs during a warm season, or summer , precipitation falls mainly during the late afternoon and early evening. In the wet season, air quality improves, fresh water quality improves, and vegetation grows substantially, leading to crop yields late in

300-503: Is known as "storm season". Different names are given to the various short "seasons" of the year by the First Nations of Northern Australia : the wet season typically experienced there from December to March is called Gudjewg . The precise meaning of the word is disputed, although it is widely accepted to relate to the severe thunderstorms, flooding, and abundant vegetation growth commonly experienced at this time. In tropical areas, when

330-883: The Dragons' Mouths ( Spanish : Bocas del Dragón ) between the Paria Peninsula of Venezuela and the Chaguaramas Peninsula of Trinidad. In the south, the Gulf is connected to the Atlantic through the Columbus Channel , also known as the Serpent's Mouth ( Spanish : Boca de la Serpiente ), between the Cedros Peninsula and the Orinoco Delta . The Gulf of Paria lies entirely within the broad strike-slip plate boundary zone of

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360-465: The rainy season or monsoon season ) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the tropics and subtropics . Under the Köppen climate classification , for tropical climates ,

390-465: The Amazon and Orinoco River systems, with the intensity of these discharges varying with the seasons (van Andel and Postma, 1954; Gade, 1961). These rivers are thought to be important effectors of nutrient enhancing upwelling currents on the adjacent continental shelf and sources of primary and secondary productivity for the water around Trinidad, especially in the Gulf (Farbes, 1983). As such, Trinidad supports

420-693: The Caroni Basin and Gulf of Paria Pull-apart Basin. The Caroni Basin is a Cenozoic basin bounded to the north by the El Pilar fault zone and the Northern Range fold-thrust belt and to the south by the Central Range fold-thrust belt. Its stratigraphy features a shallowing section from the Miocene which overlies Palaeocene and Lower Cretaceous deep-water sediments. The Gulf of Paria is the western offshore extension of

450-504: The Caroni basin. However, its deformation is now extensional due to the right-stepping of the dextral El Pilar fault to the dextral Warm Springs fault. The Los Bajos fault separates the Gulf of Paria from the Southern basin sediments. Natural gas has been discovered in the onshore Caroni basin while in the Gulf of Paria, both oil and gas have been discovered. In 2021 an oil spill was discovered in

480-499: The Gulf are semi-diurnal in nature with a range of approximately 1m. The Gulf of Paria is considered to be one of the best natural harbors on the Atlantic coast of the Americas . The jurisdiction of the Gulf of Paria is split between Trinidad and Venezuela with Trinidad having control over approximately 2,940 km (1,140 sq mi) (37.7%) and Venezuela the remainder (62.3%). It

510-650: The Paria Peninsula. It primarily inhabits the interior of damp mature subtropical forest and cloudforest, and is also found at forest edges and in small clearings. In elevation it ranges from 500 to 1,200 m (1,600 to 3,900 ft). As a political subdivision, the Paria Region of the Paria Peninsula is the aggregation of six municipalities within Sucre State: 10°42′N 62°30′W  /  10.7°N 62.5°W  / 10.7; -62.5 This article about

540-787: The United States, southern Guyana , and northeast Brazil . Northern Guyana has two wet seasons: one in early spring and the other in early winter. In western Africa, there are two rainy seasons across southern sections, but only one across the north. Within the Mediterranean climate regime, the west coast of the United States, the southwest coast of Australia and South Africa, the Mediterranean coastline of Italy, Spain, Greece, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey, as well as areas further inland in Western Asia which include Jordan, Northern Iraq and most parts of Iran, experience

570-403: The beginning of the wet season. The onset of the rainy season signals the departure of the monarch butterfly from Mexico. Tropical species of butterflies show larger dot markings on their wings to fend off possible predators and are more active during the wet season than the dry season . Within the tropics and warmer areas of the subtropics, decreased salinity of near shore wetlands due to

600-554: The charging of local aquifers during the wet season. Water also softens, as the concentration of dissolved materials reduces during the rainy season. Erosion is also increased during rainy periods. Arroyos that are dry at other times of the year fill with runoff, in some cases with water as deep as 10 feet (3.0 m). Leaching of soils during periods of heavy rainfall depletes nutrients. The higher runoff from land masses affects nearby ocean areas, which are more stratified , or less mixed, due to stronger surface currents forced by

630-463: The gulf. Between 2018 and April 2021 there have been 498 reported oil spills on land and at sea. There have been no resulting prosecutions or fines by Trinidad and Tobago authorities. The Gulf of Paria is a brackish water body – wet season salinities are below 23 ppt (parts per thousand) with extensive mangroves along the Venezuelan and Trinidadian coastlines. This body of water is basically

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660-740: The heavy rainfall runoff. High rainfall can cause widespread flooding, which can lead to landslides and mudflows in mountainous areas. Such floods cause rivers to burst their banks and submerge homes. The Ghaggar-Hakra River , which only flows during India's monsoon season, can flood and severely damage local crops. Floods can be exacerbated by fires that occurred during the previous dry season, which cause soils which are sandy or composed of loam to become hydrophobic, or water repellent. In various ways governments may help people deal with wet season floods. Flood plain mapping identifies which areas are more prone to flooding. Instructions on controlling erosion through outreach are also provided by telephone or

690-560: The internet. The wet season is the main period of vegetation growth within the Savanna climate regime. However, this also means that wet season is a time for food shortages before crops reach their full maturity. This causes seasonal weight changes for people in developing countries, with a drop occurring during the wet season until the time of the first harvest, when weights rebound. Malaria incidence increases during periods of high temperature and heavy rainfall. Cows calve, or give birth, at

720-421: The monsoon arrives, high daytime high temperatures drop and overnight low temperatures increase, thus reducing diurnal temperature variation . During the wet season, a combination of heavy rainfall and, in some places such as Hong Kong , an onshore wind, improve air quality . In Brazil, the wet season is correlated with weaker trade winds off the ocean. The pH level of water becomes more balanced due to

750-412: The season. Rivers overflow their banks, and some animals retreat to higher ground. Soil nutrients diminish and erosion increases. The incidence of malaria and dengue increases in areas where the rainy season coincides with high temperatures, particularly in tropical areas. Some animals have adaptation and survival strategies for the wet season. Often, the previous dry season leads to food shortages in

780-503: The southeastern Caribbean. The structure of the Gulf consists of a complex set of transtensional basins superimposed on a fold-and-thrust belt (Serrania del Interior of eastern Venezuela). The petroleum of Trinidad has been generated by prolific Upper Cretaceous source rocks, time equivalent to the La Luna and Querecual formations in Colombia and Venezuela. These source rocks were then overlain by

810-472: The tropics can have two wet seasons, because the monsoon trough, or Intertropical Convergence Zone , can pass over locations in the tropics twice per year. However, since rain forests have rainfall spread evenly through the year, they do not have a wet season. Areas with a savanna climate in Sub-Saharan Africa , such as Ghana , Burkina Faso , Darfur , Eritrea , Ethiopia , and Botswana have

840-414: The wet season is mainly due to daytime heating, which leads to diurnal thunderstorm activity within a pre-existing moist airmass , so the rain mainly falls in late afternoon and early evening in savanna and monsoon regions. Much of the total rainfall each day occurs in the first minutes of the downpour, before the storms mature into their stratiform stage. Most places have only one wet season, but areas of

870-474: The wet season, as the crops have yet to mature. Crops which can be successfully planted during the wet or rainy season are cassava , maize , groundnut , millet , rice and yam . The temperate counterpart to the tropical wet season is spring or autumn . In areas where the heavy rainfall is associated with a wind shift, the wet season is known as the monsoon season. Many tropical and subtropical climates experience monsoon rainfall patterns. Rainfall in

900-556: Was originally named the Gulf of the Whale ( Spanish : Golfo de la Ballena ) by Christopher Columbus , but the 19th-century whaling industry eliminated whales from the area and populations have never recovered. Cartographic sources of the late 18th century repeatedly refer to it as the Sad Gulf ( Spanish : Golfo Triste ). In the north, the Gulf is connected to the Caribbean Sea through

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